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(gnuplot.info)data-file

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Enter node , (file) or (file)node

 As for `plot` (Note: plot ), discrete data contained in a file can be
 displayed by specifying the name of the data file, enclosed in quotes,  on the
 `splot` (Note: splot ) command line.

 Syntax:
       splot '<file_name>' {binary | matrix}
                           {index <index list>}
                           {every <every list>}
                           {using <using list>}

 The special filenames `""` and `"-"` are permitted, as in `plot`.

 In brief, `binary` (Note: binary ) and  `matrix` (Note: matrix ) indicate
 that the the data are in a special form, `index` (Note: index ) selects
 which data sets in a multi-data-set file are to be plotted, `every`
 (Note: every ) specifies which datalines (subsets) within a single data set
 are to be plotted, and `using` (Note: using ) determines how the columns
 within a single record are to be interpreted.

 The options `index` and `every` behave the same way as with `plot`;  `using`
 does so also, except that the `using` list must provide three entries
 instead of two.

 The `plot` options `thru` (Note: thru ) and  `smooth` (Note: smooth ) are
 not available for splot, but `cntrparams` and `dgrid3d` (Note: dgrid3d )
 provide limited smoothing cabilities.

 Data file organization is essentially the same as for `plot`, except that
 each point is an (x,y,z) triple.  If only a single value is provided, it
 will be used for z, the datablock number will be used for y, and the index
 of the data point in the datablock will be used for x.  If two values are
 provided, `gnuplot` (Note: gnuplot ) gives you an error message.  Three
 values are interpreted as an (x,y,z) triple.  Additional values are generally
 used as errors, which can be used by `fit` (Note: fit ).

 Single blank records separate datablocks in a `splot` datafile; `splot`
 treats datablocks as the equivalent of function y-isolines.  No line will
 join points separated by a blank record.  If all datablocks contain the same
 number of points, `gnuplot` will draw cross-isolines between datablocks,
 connecting corresponding points.  This is termed "grid data", and is required
 for drawing a surface, for contouring (`set contour` (Note: contour )) and
 hidden-line removal (`set hidden3d` (Note: hidden3d )). See also splot grid
 data

 It is no longer necessary to specify `parametric` (Note: parametric ) mode
 for three-column `splot`s.

binary

example datafile

matrix